Great Videos to Check Out!

If you're interested in learning more about living a healthy lifestyle and the affects it can have on your body, watch these AWESOME videos!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46_GInjBeQU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW2D5a7XL4c&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1RgkVpYDeo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh2xNcuOmVU

You ARE beautiful!

Even with the most perfect diet, sometimes words alone can affect your health and your attitude! Hurtful negative words can turn a perfectly beautiful day into an energy-sapping negative experience! Sometimes you just need to know you're beautiful and you're loved! So, if you're having one of those days,  remember... You are an amazing person! You are special! You are an inspiration to those you meet!

Have a wonderful day!

It's Thursday!

What a great day! The kids and I have been able to get a good amount of school and housework done today. My movie No Impact Man came, my sprouts are almost fully grown, and tonight is pasta night! See, aren't Thursdays AWESOME!!!

So, today I thought I would discuss the importance of B12. B12 is the only vitamin that is lacking in most Vegan diets. B12 is the vitamin that helps maintain healthy nerve cells and red blood cells, and is also needed to make DNA. The average recommended daily intake is around 2.4 mcg for most people. There are several solutions to the B12 issue. Here are a few:

1) Drinking or eating B12 fortified processed vegan foods- soymilk, certain cereals, etc...
2) You can take a multivitamin that includes the daily recommended intake of B12
3) You can take an individual B12 supplement (sublingual is most widely recommended)

For us, we follow two of the choices. We drink soymilk fortified with B12 and we also take a B12 supplement every 3 or 4 days. This has seemed to work just fine for our family. If you have recently decided to go Vegan, talk to your doctor about the best way to get B12 into your diet.

Have a WONDERFUL Thursday!

Sprouting

Today I thought I would share a few thoughts on sprouts :-) I absolutely LOVE sprouts!!! Alfalfa sprouts, broccoli sprouts, mung bean sprouts... I haven't met a sprout yet, that I did not like :-) We currently live in an area where good fresh sprouts are very hard to come by. So, on Sunday, I decided to begin sprouting my own sprouts! I'm sooooo excited to see them growing and changing from the tiny little seeds that they were into lovely little sprouts! I decided to begin with broccoli sprouts since they are known to be the most nutritious of all the sprouts available. So far they are looking very good.

You may be asking your self, what benefits are there to eating sprouts? Sprouts contain concentrated amounts of phytochemicals (plant compounds) that can protect us against disease. They help with bone formation and bone density and can even prevent bone breakdown (osteoporosis). They can also be helpful in controlling hot flashes, menopause, PMS and fibrocystic breasts tumors. There are soooo many reasons to eat sprouts, but for me the answer is simple... I just love the way they taste!

If you're interested in growing your own sprouts, here are a few places to start:

http://www.sproutpeople.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WZpVKfEHaM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-1V4vtV8Yo

Have Fun!

What's for dinner?

So, it's Tuesday! Not much to report today. It's ALWAYS a very busy, run around day! So for dinner, something easy. Tonight we are having potato soup and cornbread.

Here's a really yummy recipe:

1 bag of potatoes peeled and chopped
1 large soup pot filled 1/2 way with filtered water (or tap)
10 green onions chopped
2 cloves of garlic peeled and pressed
1/2 cup of Nutritional Yeast
3 large handful of chopped greens (kale, collards, or spinach)
1-2 cups of soy milk
Salt and Pepper to taste

Bring water to a boil. Add potatoes, onions, garlic, salt, and pepper. Boil til potatoes are soft. Turn down heat to low. Add nutritional yeast flakes, greens, and soymilk. Cook another 10 minutes or until the greens are tender. Serve with your favorite cornbread! Serves 6 to 8 hungry people :-)  

Green Smoothies

I wanted to take a little more time to talk to you about the wonderful green smoothie. I realize in an earlier post I included a recipe, but I wanted to be sure that you knew that this is just a starting point. Everyone's taste preferences are different. I've seen some green smoothies that only use water, mangos, and spinach. Others include water, kale, flax oil, bananas, apples, dates, and cayenne pepper. There are sooooo many ways to make a green smoothie. The only set rule is that it HAS to have a fair amount of greens in it. Hence the name "Green" smoothie :-) Some different greens to include are: kale, collards, spinach, mustard greens, or beet greens. All are wonderful and add lovely flavor to your smoothie.

If you are new to the green smoothie experience you may want to start out light on greens and heavy on fruit. You can add stevia, agave, dates, rice syrup, maple syrup, or honey as a sweetener. You can use water, soy milk, almond milk, rice milk, or fresh squeezed juice as the base. Play around with your ingredients and just have fun! There is no better feeling than knowing that you and your family are getting your veggies every morning :-)

Hot Chocolate

Today is definitely a hot cocoa day :-)  So, I thought I would share with you my yummy vegan version.

Vegan Hot Cocoa

2 cups of Plain Silk
3 TBS of unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp of salt
4 TBS agave nectar
1/2 tsp of vanilla

Pour Silk into a medium sized sauce pan. Begin warming over medium heat. Stir in salt, cocoa powder, and agave and continue heating til just below a boil. Add vanilla and heat an additional minute or so (do NOT boil). Serve and enjoy!     Makes 2 servings

We all LOVE this recipe! (except my daughter, of course- she is a despiser of all things chocolate!)

No Impact Man

I saw the trailer for this new documentary over 6 months ago and have been waiting patiently for it's release!!! It's finally here!!! I CANNOT wait to see it!

So, the documentary is called No Impact Man and the trailer and website look AWESOME!! I would explain a little more about it, but I don't feel I could do it justice. So if you're into being healthy and eco-friendly living, check out the website and trailer for this movie at http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/

I think you'll really enjoy it :-)

Awwwwww!

So glad to see the weekend finally arrive. It's been a LONG week! So, what's for dinner tonight? I'm thinking good ole' fashion country cookin'!

Mashed Potatoes w/ veggie gravy (tastes like turkey)
Green Beans
Corn on the Cob
Biscuits

Sounds about right. Too bad my oldest kiddos are at a sleepover or we might have some homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Here's the recipe we use:

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Chocolate Chunk Cookies from The Engine 2 Diet)

¾ cup and 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons flaxseed meal mixed with ¼ cup water
1 cup plus 4 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon Ener-G egg replacer mixed with ¼ cup water
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cups whole wheat flour 
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon finely ground sea salt
1 package vegan chocolate chips


1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. Mix the applesauce, flaxseed, and sugar together using an electric or hand mixer.
3. Beat in the Ener-G and vanilla.
4. Mix the remaining ingredients (except the chocolate chips) in a separate bowl.
5. Gradually combine the dry and wet ingredients until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Place rounded, heaping tablespoons of dough onto a sprayed or parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake for 10–12 minutes.
7. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack

These cookies are FANTABULOUS!!!!!

Breakfast

I get a lot of questions about what we eat in our house if we do not eat animal products. So, this morning I will tell you about our breakfasts. At first we were having either organic cereal with Silk or some type of oatmeal. Then we discovered green smoothies!!!! WOW, they are sooooooooo good. What is a green smoothie you may ask. Well, here is what we put in ours and even the kids LOVE them!

Christi's Smoothie Creation

3 bananas
1/2-1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries
2 cups of plain soymilk
1-2 TBS of Agave
1 large handful of fresh spinach
1 heaping spoonful (large spoon) of ground flax seed
1/2 cup of ice

Blend ice, bananas, blueberries, soy milk, and agave til smooth. Add flax seed and spinach. Blend till smooth and creamy. Serve (makes 3 medium size servings or 2 large servings) Enjoy!

It's here! It's Here!

As my kids would say-Awesomeness, my new Yoga DVD is here! I can't wait to try it out :-) I've heard ALOT of great things about this DVD. I've done a little previewing and so far I'm impressed! Seane Corn is wonderful in this! She really helps you understand how the positions should work and feel.

My Cooking Space :-)

My favorite cannisters hubby got me for Christmas and the tea pot my parents brought me from their trip overseas :-)

My new bamboo towel holder, cutting board, and utensil holder :-) Also my beautiful apron one of my best buddies sent me for Christmas (I LOVE aprons!) ~ Thanks Ali!

Rack where I keep all my favorite cookbooks and of course my juicer and food processor!

My favorite cookbooks :-)

Yay! Thursday :-)

  Thursdays are my absolute favorite days of the week and wouldn't you know my favorite holiday is Thanksgiving (which ALWAYS falls on a Thursday!!!) Why, you may ask, do I like Thursdays so much? 'Cause it's the kick off day to the weekend!

So what's for dinner tonight? Hmmmm, I'm thinking mexican :-) We LOVE enchiladas at our house. Here's my vegan version:

Veggie Enchiladas

10 sm/med whole grain or sprouted grain tortillas
4 cups of cooked dried beans mashed with a little bean juice (we prefer pintos)
1 small package of organic baby spinach
5 green onions chopped
1 package shredded vegan cheese (optional)
1 large can of enchilada sauce
1 large can of tomato sauce
1 package vegan sour cream (optional)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or lightly oil 2- 9"x13" baking pans. Spread beans over center of one tortilla. Add cheese, onions, and spinach. Roll tightly. Place on one of the baking pans. Continue with each tortilla leaving a small space between them on the pan. I usually get 5 on each pan. Mix tomato and enchilada sauce in a bowl. Pour half the sauce over one pan and the other half over the other. Sprinkle with a little more vegan cheese. Cook for 25-30 minutes Serve with your favorite rice or a side of steamed veggies. (Cheese may be omitted) Serves 5 hungry people :-)

Here are the results :

Before                                                                              After, yum!

Great Recipe!

Here's a yummy soup for these cold winter nights.
VERY Healthy Vegan Soup

Ingredients

1 Large Spoonful of Better than Bouillon Veggie Base

3 Carrots peeled and chopped

5 -6 Medium Potatoes peeled and chopped

2 Celery stalks (ends removed) chopped

1 Bunch of Green onion (ends removed) chopped

1 Zucchini chopped

1 Yellow squash chopped

1/2-3/4 a bag of frozen white corn

5 to 6 Kale leaves chopped (stems removed)

4 Cloves of garlic- chopped, mashed, or pressed

1 cup Uncooked pearled barley

1 can petite diced tomatoes juice included

1/4 cup Nutritional Yeast

*** I use the following seasonings to taste (totally up to your preference) for me its about 3 good shakes from the container

Mrs. Dash Seasoning

Salt-Free Italian Seasoning

Sea Salt

Blackpepper

Ground Corriander

Cayenne Pepper

Fill a soup pot halfway with filtered water. Add all ingredients except corn and kale. For chopped veggies I tried to make the pieces large and chunky- not finely chopped. Bring soup to a boil then turn down to medium heat. Cook for 40 minutes then add the Kale and Corn. Cook another 15 to 30 minutes. Serve with Vegan Cornbread :-) AWESOME!!!

Who Am I???

Now there's a loaded question. Let's see, I am a homeschooling mom, a devoted and loyal wife, a seeker of knowledge, a taxi driver, a housekeeper, a teacher, a chef, a P.E. coach, and the list goes on :-)

I decided to start this blog because my family and I recently began a journey to a new and healthy way of living. I thought this would allow me to keep a written log of all the wonderful changes we will experience along the way. So, if your interested, keep reading. If not, have a great day :-)